According to vice president and general manager GeorgeMcPhee, the Washington Capitals have re-signed center Mathieu Perreault to atwo-year contract extension.

Perreault, 24, set career highs in goals (16), assists (14), points (30), gamesplayed (64) and plusminus (9) in 2011-12. He finished first on Washington inshooting percentage (26.7) and tied for fourth on the team with fourgame-winning goals. His 30 points ranked 10th on the team while he finishedtied for fifth in goals and tied for fourth in plusminus. Perreault talliedhis first career NHL hat trick on Jan. 24 vs. Boston and made his NHL playoffdebut against the Bruins, appearing in four postseason games with the Capitalsin 2012.

The Drummondville, Quebec, native has collected 53 points (27 goals, 26assists) and is a plus-10 in 120 career NHL games, all with Washington.Perreault was originally drafted by the Capitals in the sixth round (177thoverall) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. He has played the second-most games andhas registered the second-most points among the 2006 Capitals draft class,trailing only Nicklas Backstrom in each category, and is one of just fourplayers in the league drafted in the fourth round or later in 2006 to haveposted 50 or more career points.

The 510, 185-pound center won back-to-back Calder Cup championships withHershey of the American Hockey League in 2009 and 2010. Perreault was named tothe Canadian Hockey League (CHL) and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)Second All-Star Teams in 2007-08, recording the most assists (80) and the mostpoints (114) in the QMJHL that season. In 2006-07 Perreault was named to theCHL Second All-Star Team, the QMJHL First All-Star Team and was named theQMJHLs most valuable player.

It’s happened. The Caps no longer seem to have a No. 1 goalie anymore, they have a No. 1 and 1a.

That’s right, we have a goalie rotation in Washington.

“There's no sense riding one,” Barry Trotz said after practice on Monday. “[Braden Holtby] is coming back and looking better every game and [Philipp Grubauer] played pretty well for a long stretch so why not have both of them going?”

Grubauer got the start Sunday in Philadelphia and Holtby is slated to get the start Tuesday against the Dallas Stars. After that we will have to wait and see.

Trotz has no layout for which goalie he wants to start and when in the remaining ten games. He is not thinking about each goalie splitting five games or which one he wants to use more.

Nope. Trotz has just one thing on his mind. It is all about who starts the next game, that’s it.

“I think you just go with a guy that's hot at the time and your team feels comfortable with and go from there,” Trotz said.

So where does this leave the goaltending situation when it comes to the playoffs? A goalie rotation is all well and good in the regular season, but he has to have one starter for the postseason, right?

When Trotz was asked if he philosophically believed in having one starter for the playoffs, Trotz initially said he would not answer, but then said, “Why don't you ask Mike Sullivan what he thinks.”

Sullivan, of course, is the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins who has led his team to a Stanley Cup in each of the past two seasons despite turning to both goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray in both seasons.

While Pittsburgh’s goalie rotation was largely based on injury, however, it still provides an example of how using both goalies can work in the playoffs and that seems to be the path the Caps are headed on at the moment.

Said Trotz, “You just have to go with your gut who you think is going to get the job done.”

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NHL Power Rankings: The home stretch

NHL Power Rankings: The home stretch

We are down to the home stretch. Only 10 games remain in the Capitals' regular season. Those 10 games will ultimately decide if the Caps finish in first place in the Metropolitan Division and who they will play in the first round of the playoffs.

Washington currently sits in first place in the division, two points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and four points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers. Of those 10 remaining games, only three come against teams currently in playoff position. The most critical of these comes on April 1 when the Caps travel to Pittsburgh in a game that could ultimately decide the division.